New rules to help rape victims

Rape victims will be given sweeping new protections during trials, with planned rules requiring judges to agree before a complainant's sexual history can be raised in court.

Defendants accused of rape could also face a new test of consent meaning a woman would effectively have to have said 'yes' to sexual activity rather than simply not saying 'no'.

Courts would be required to consider what steps an accused person took to establish consent under rules designed to make rape cases less harrowing for victims.

It is understood the measures will be outlined by Justice Minister Simon Power today. He is also tipped to outline plans to prevent the wrongful removal from New Zealand of children in custody cases, among measures aimed at reforming child protection and Family Court laws.

Mr Power has already asked the Law Commission to investigate giving judges a fact-finding role in sexual violence and child abuse cases through the introduction of elements of the European "inquisitorial" style of hearings.

If adopted, that would mean judges would collect and determine the facts of sensitive cases rather than them being aired before a jury - a process many victims say is more traumatising than the sexual attack.

It is understood Mr Power wants to go further by restricting the ability of defence lawyers to discredit rape complainants by trawling through their sexual histories.

Defence lawyers would have to convince judges of the merit of such evidence before it could be admitted.

The measure was aimed at increasing the low rate of reporting for sexual attacks, estimated to be only 10 per cent of victims.

Rape Prevention Education director Kim McGregor said concerns about treatment by the criminal justice system were a factor in women not reporting attacks.

"Defence lawyers tend to try to discredit the rape survivor.

"They're often called liars, sluts, slags and many rape survivors have said that the judicial process is as bad if not worse than the sexual violence itself."

Mr Power is expected to outline his plans in a speech on a major overhaul of the criminal justice system.

Plans made public so far include requiring defence and prosecution lawyers to try and resolve issues before they get to court, raising the threshold for jury trials and greater use of audio visual links.

He is also tipped to unveil further results from a "drivers of crime" initiative which began in April and is aimed at identifying the causes of crime in a bid to improve prevention.

- By MARTIN KAY, The Dominion Post